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Hicks: Julianne Hough says she was abused as a child

By Tony Hicks

Contra Costa Times

Posted:
01/03/2013 12:46:10 PM PST

Updated:
01/03/2013 02:19:11 PM PST

Julianne Hough told Cosmopolitan she was abused as a child.

The 24-year-old plays a domestic abuse survivor in "Safe Haven," due out Feb. 14. She said she suffered her own physical and emotional abuse as a child dancer in London, after moving from Utah at 10 to pursue her career as a dancer.

"I was 10 years old looking like I was 28, being a very sensual dancer. I was a tormented little kid who had to put on this sexy facade because that was my job and my life," Hough said. "While I was in London, I was abused, mentally, physically, everything," she said, adding, "I'm a very forgiving person, and I don't want to hurt anybody. What's past is past."

The "Dancing With the Stars" dancer said she's opening up about her own experiences to be a voice for those who don't have one. Hough declined to go into details about the abuse, but said that it got much worse when she hit puberty, and her abuser began threatening her, according to the Huffington Post.

"I was told if I ever went back to the United States, three things were going to happen. One: I was going to amount to nothing. Two: I was going to work at Whataburger. And three: I was going to end up a slut. So it was like, 'I can't go back, I have to be this person,'" she said.